1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention is that of firefighting means and in particular water supply terminals, such as fire posts and fire hydrants, combined under the generic term of hydrants.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fire post is, as its name indicates, a hollow post in which a set of controls is arranged and which allows the channeling of pressurized water from the primary supply network to the firefighting personnel. The post is equipped with valves to which the firefighters come to connect their hoses, which are sealed by plugs when they are not in use. Using a wheel, fixed or movable, or a key that is fitted to a maneuvering end fitting, the controls make it possible to move the check mechanism of a spigot, referred to as a valve, which is placed downstream from the pipe for channeling the water and whose opening causes the water to be made available. The post very often is enclosed in a hood that is equipped with a door that has a lock to keep water from being tapped off without authorization.
A fire hydrant differs slightly from a post in that it is completely integrated in the ground so as to be less visible, but it remains almost identical in its operation; namely, it uses a valve for connecting the hoses of the firefighters and a maneuvering end fitting, on which a key is fitted to activate the valve and to allow the water that is obtained from the primary network to flow.
Each post, like each hydrant, is always preceded upstream, just before its connection to the pipe that comes from the water supply network, by a “keyed hydrant.” The latter, so called through improper use of language, is actually an isolating spigot that makes it possible to isolate the hydrant from the primary network. For this purpose, it is advisable to insert a suitable key in the top of the keyed hydrant, to pass through the elongated tube that extends it, to reach and to maneuver the isolating spigot.
The problem that communities frequently encounter is the theft of water by diversion of water from these hydrants. Various solutions have been proposed, which aim either at preventing the rotation of the control tube of the valve or at preventing access to the valves of the connections of the hoses. In the first case, this very often involves locks or loads placed on the control nut of the tube or on its maneuvering handle. In the second case, this involves loads placed on the valve and held by a lock. None of these solutions is actually effective because in general, these devices are positioned outside of the hydrant and are therefore exposed to all sorts of damage, whereby the latter can range from detachment or pure and simple destruction of the lock and/or the load.